Supersized handbags are becoming a threat to the safety of women motorists, it was revealed this week.
Female drivers spend an average of 416 hours in a lifetime rummaging through handbags in search of “buried” car keys, a poll by a leading car insurance company found.
A third of 1,080 women surveyed said they felt panicked or anxious about not being able to locate keys quickly, especially when travelling alone or late at night.
Also, 12% have had their bag or its contents stolen while they were distracted and 28% sensed they were being followed when they walked to their car alone.
As many as 75% of those polled reckoned they were at their most vulnerable when walking to cars alone at night.
London female drivers felt the most unsafe while rummaging for keys, while women motorists in Wales were the biggest sufferers of handbag crime.
Jenny Fawson, director of personal safety at safety organisation the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said: “Two of the most important things a woman can do to improve her safety is to stay aware of her surroundings and to avoid potentially dangerous situations.
“If you are distracted from your surroundings because you are chatting on your mobile, listening to an MP3 player or rummaging about in your bag for keys, you will be less likely to see danger approaching and therefore less likely to be able to avoid it.”
